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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28919775">in spite of it all</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KleoHoney/pseuds/KleoHoney'>KleoHoney</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Knives Out (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Betrayal, F/M, angst with happy ending, mentions of cheating, toxic family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:34:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28919775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KleoHoney/pseuds/KleoHoney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After dating Ransom for almost six months, you learn he was only dating you to spite his family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ransom Drysdale/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>181</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in spite of it all</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since you’d found out, a dull numbness had settled over you. Like a weighted blanket, only without the added comfort. Numbness was more welcome than anything else, though, because if you started crying you weren’t sure when you’d stop.</p><p>You hissed as your wrist caught the zip of your suitcase, an angry red line slowly forming on your skin. You rubbed it half heartedly, giving one last look around the room. Not because you’d miss it, of course, but just in case you’d missed anything.</p><p>You’d all but moved in. In the last three months you’d spent almost every night at Ransom’s bachelor pad. Thank God you hadn’t. It’d be back to your old apartment - for now. This might be the thing that made you finally leave.</p><p>You’d wasted six whole months on Ransom Drysdale. It hadn’t felt like a waste at the time. It never did, did it? </p><p>The first date had been an experiment. You’d both been using each other for sex but then - the sex had been good. Concerningly good. So one date had turned to two, then three, then four. Sleepovers at each other’s houses, little presents, and that moment when he’d broken down and told you everything about his family.</p><p>You’d met them once. It had been unbearably awkward and you’d been glad to see the backs of them. Harlan, though, was the exception. He was the real reason Ransom had bought you over. At least that's what you’d thought at the time.</p><p>In fact, you’d gotten so close to Harlan that you’d traded numbers. He texted sometimes, to see how it was going with Ransom, to tell you funny jokes, things like that.</p><p>And today he’d texted you and told you about Ransom.</p><p>It was no secret that there was a difference in wealth between the two of you. Ransom had never worked a job in his life - but you’d had two, sometimes even three at a time. No college, no real qualifications. Just a will to work and a way to see the good side to bad situations.</p><p>Ransom had a bad side and was always in an argument with his family. Days before he met you, there had been one about his future. Specifically, about him settling down. His mother had given him the names of a few women who were more than happy to date him, who made the same kind of money and were good to have at parties.</p><p>So, Ransom had chosen you. Not because you’d clicked together, or that you were worth it. But because he wanted to piss off his family. Date a poor person.</p><p>Tears welled in your eyes. They must have all known by the time he bought you to that party. They’d probably laughed at you after you left, made fun of the fact that you were too blind to see what Ransom really was.</p><p>You’d thanked Harlan but blocked him immediately after. Why he’d waited this long to tell you was a mystery, and you didn’t want anything to do with that family.</p><p>“What’s going on?”</p><p>Every muscle in your body zinged, singing with awareness. You gritted your teeth and wished you’d been paying attention; you should’ve heard the Beemer pull up. </p><p>“Not much,” you gritted, “just clearing my things out.”</p><p>You hefted your bags over your shoulder and turned to look at him. Pain crept out from the centre of your chest at the confusion on his face, but it was overruled by anger. How dare he do that to you and then - then look confused? Like he didn’t know how he’d utterly humiliated you?<br/>“Oh,” you gave a tight smile, “and I never want to see you again.”<br/>You side stepped him and went out into the hall, fingers bone-white on the strap of your bag. It was digging into your shoulder, reminding you every step of the way what you were doing and why.</p><p>“What the fuck?” Ransom raised his voice and you heard his footsteps thudding after you. “Baby, wait, come here - “</p><p>His fingers closed around your shoulder but you yanked it away, pausing in front of the floor. “Get off of me. You don’t get to touch me - not after what you’ve done, what you’d continue doing if it wasn’t for your grandfather.”</p><p>“Baby,” he tried again, holding his hands out in front of him. The same hands that had driven you over the edge again and again, the same hands that had cupped your face so gently, the same hands that had brushed hair from your face. “I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did he - did he say I cheated? Because I haven’t, I would never - “</p><p>“Oh, yes you would,” you snapped. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had. But this is the fact that, for the last six months, you have used me. You pretended to care about me and fucking used me, all to piss your family off. The same family that you supposedly ‘don’t give a fuck’ about. There’s one person here that you don’t give a fuck about, Hugh, and it isn’t any of them.”</p><p>Ransom was utterly still, his face a mask of shock and confusion. “Baby, no. Please.”</p><p>You didn’t want to hear it. Couldn’t. </p><p>“Shut the fuck up.”</p><p>And you left.</p><p>🍷</p><p>You allowed yourself the satisfaction of Ransom blowing up your phone for one night. There were hundreds of texts, dozens of calls and he even emailed you. They went on well into the night, and you finally blocked him just after two in the morning. You didn’t let yourself read any of them, or feel even a shred of pity.</p><p>It was quiet after that. Unbearably so, but you didn’t let yourself think about it for even a minute. You kept yourself busy with work, and when you weren’t doing that or baking bread, you were looking at properties a few hours away. It was a pleasant distraction.</p><p>Your life was Ransom-free for all of two weeks. </p><p>“I need to talk to you.”</p><p>You jolted, nearly dropping the glass of water you’d bought with you for your break. It was a hot day and an even hotter one in the kitchens; your scalp was sweating and you could feel a damp line down your back. </p><p>Water dribbled from the glass over your finger tips as you stared at him. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead and his eyes were dark, smudges of fatigue smeared beneath them. He looked how you felt.</p><p>“You can’t be here,” you said, sipping carefully from your water. Giving him a reaction was not something you wanted to do.</p><p>“I need to explain,” he said, his tone verging on a whine. “Please, you need to give me the chance - “</p><p>“I don’t ‘need’ to give you anything,” you snapped, “so let’s make that clear. I’m on my break, and you need to go away before you cost me my job. Believe it or not, I actually need it.”</p><p>He took a step back and your heart clenched. You forced down another gulp of water and tried not to let it show on your face. For a moment he looked as if he might go, and then, well, he didn’t.</p><p>“Hey,” he shouted, “hey!”</p><p>You jolted, spilling water down your front. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Shut up!”</p><p>“Not until you agree to meet with me,” he said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Hey!”</p><p>You frantically looked around for any passersby. Cocking your arm back, you threw the rest of your water over him. It worked for a second; he shook himself like a dog and got right back to shouting.</p><p>“Okay!” You hissed, baring your teeth. “I will, just, please, shut up.”</p><p>He did, looking pleased with himself. It was almost hard not to laugh, the way a boyish smile made him look five years younger and made your heart flutter. You stubbornly tilted your chin, jerking it in the direction of his car.</p><p>“I’ll pick you up,” he told you, and then he turned and walked back to his car.</p><p>Every few feet, he’d turn back and look at you, as if to make sure you were still there. You tried to tell yourself that it was creepy and not endearing, even when a smile tugged at the corners of your lips.</p><p>🍷</p><p>True to his word, Ransom did pick you up. He turned up half an hour before your shift ended, ruining all chances of you making a run for it.</p><p>You scrubbed at a stubborn stain on the table, trying to ignore the fact that you knew he was watching. It was even more embarrassing, now that you knew what he thought about you.</p><p>By the time your shift was finished, you were pissed. Again. You’d listen to what he had to say, and then you’d leave. It wouldn’t make a difference.</p><p>Ransom hopped out the car before you were near, hurrying around to open the passenger side door for you. That was something he’d always done, and you used to even tease him about it. You glared at him but got in, relishing the cool air inside the car.</p><p>He got in the other side, glancing at you in the mirror. “I thought we could talk here.”</p><p>You shrugged. It didn’t matter where he spoke to you or what it was about - it didn’t. You wouldn’t let it. “What did you want to say?”</p><p>He breathed in sharply, as if he hadn’t expected you to be so outright. “I - I won’t lie. Not to you Harlan was right.”</p><p>You closed your eyes, the words dancing on the backs of your eyelids. There was no reason hearing it should hurt so much, not when you already knew. But it did, and you could felt that weighted blanket settling over your shoulders again.</p><p>“At first,” he swallowed, sitting back and staring out the windshield, “I was looking for someone who would irritate my parents. I was tired of them trying to set me up, trying to control my life.”</p><p>“I know this bit,” you said tiredly. And you did; it was all you’d thought about for the past two weeks. </p><p>“You don’t,” he insisted, the intensity of his voice capturing your attention. “I went out that night because I wanted a break. I wasn’t looking for anyone then. And I never got the chance to look, because I met you that night.”</p><p>“Do you expect me to believe that?” You said in disbelief. “You just happened to stumble across me, who is everything your parents dislike and exactly what you wanted?”</p><p>“You are exactly what I wanted,” he repeated, “you’re exactly what I want. Baby, I didn’t find out about your job until a week after we started dating.”</p><p>You paused, something like hope stuttering to life in your chest. “So? You still used me - took me to that party and let them laugh behind my back.”</p><p>“I wanted you to meet my granddad,” he said softly, hands twitching on his thighs. You imagined him reaching over, putting on on your thigh. “But I should’ve stopped them. Should’ve said something and I didn’t.”</p><p>The back of your throat burned and you pinched your nose. “Okay, so you didn’t look for me purposely. But you took advantage of me once you had me. How does that make it any better?”</p><p>The sky was darkening and steam was creeping across the windshield, closing you off from the outside. That was how you’d always felt with Ransom; like it was just you and him. Even when he was being mean, or when he was teasing you, and especially when he took you to bed ad made you forget everything about him. He’d done a good job, because he was all you’d thought about since you left his house.</p><p>“It doesn’t,” he admitted. “But I was so proud of you that night. Even when they were fucking petty, or made snide comments, you brushed it off. You were polite, kind. I admired you for that, I still do.”</p><p>“And that’s the thing,” he continued. “I know I don’t deserve you, but that’s not going to stop me from wanting you. From begging for you back because I haven’t lived since you walked out of that house. Our house. We lived together and we were so good and I want that. Will always want that.”</p><p>Tears dripped miserably down your face and you swiped at them, flinching when Ransom reached over to brush them off for you. His fingers were soft on your cheeks and the smell of him was almost overwhelming. You’d missed it too much.</p><p>“I’m a selfish man,” he murmured, turning you by the chin to meet his gaze. “Believe me, baby, I fucking know that. That’s why I’m asking for you back. And I won’t feel bad for doing it, because I know I can prove that I deserve it.”</p><p>“How?” You asked, teetering on that line. Ransom had never been one for mushiness, never been one for feelings, and you’d never asked. You’d enjoyed the time you spent with him and never asked for more. Now he was giving it, and it meant so much more.</p><p>“You’ll never want for anything,” he said quickly. “I’ll show you how I feel, I know I don’t have to hide it. Anything you want is yours. I’ll pick you up every day and meet you on your lunches, I’ll go to the theatre with you even if it’s one of those fucking ballet shows. I’ll watch that show with the actor you like, I’ll - anything, baby.”</p><p>You inhaled shakily. “One thing. That’s all I want.”</p><p>“Anything,” he said, reaching across to squeeze your hand.</p><p>“I never, ever want to see your fucking family again,” you breathed out.</p><p>There was silence. And then the entire car was lit up by the sound of his laughter as he pulled you across the seat and dragged you into his arms. You giggled tearily, inhaling his scent and burying your face in the crook of his neck.</p><p>He only pulled back to kiss you, though it was more of a gentle brushing of lips. A promise of more. He cupped your face and bought you back, this time with more intensity. Your teeth clacked clumsily as he pulled you as close as possible, the kiss messy but needed. After the time apart, he’d take any part of you he could get and would do it gladly.</p><p>“That,” he agreed, “I can do.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please let me know what you think!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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